25 Best Xbox 360 Co-Op Games of All Time

25 Best Xbox 360 Co-Op Games of All Time

The Xbox 360 was home to lots of great co-op games. Let’s look back at the best Xbox 360 co-op games to have ever to make it to Microsoft’s second home video game console.

Best Co-Op Xbox 360 Games

Borderlands

The original Borderlands was a surprise hit that is best experienced as a co-op game to help get through what is a pretty bland story. Although the sequel improved just about everything from the first game, the classes are different between the two games and offer very varied experiences.

Borderlands 2

Borderlands 2 was an excellent sequel to a game that already got a lot right. It featured better DLC support, new classes and guns, and a much more interesting story with one of last gen’s best villains.

Call of Duty: World at War

Call of Duty: World at War, while dated compared to the new CoDs, is still worth remembering as one of the best co-op games in the series. It featured a full co-op campaign with four-player competitive features, allowing you to see who is pulling the most weight while you play through the story. And, of course, introduced the incredibly popular Zombies mode.

Call of Duty: Black Ops

Call of Duty: Black Ops, developed by Treyarch just like World of War, once again was a one of the better co-op experiences in the series. Although it dropped the competitive co-op feature from World at War, it had a highly developed Zombies mode that took the spin-off mode to the next level.

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is one of those games that fully embraces “b-” game status. It doesn’t try to be polished or great, but if you just want a totally insane co-op experience to just screw around with a friend, EDF: Insect Armageddon is a memorable experience for the silliest reasons.

Gears of War

The original Gears of War blew away everyone when it released toward the beginning of last-generation. It was a killer-app that helped set the Xbox 360 up for a successful generation. Playing through the campaign now is just as fun as it was then.

Gears of War 2

Gears of War 2 kept the original’s excellent co-op campaign, and threw in the then innovative, and now industry standard, horde mode. Pick up where you left off from the original, and if you have a full crew, take a trip down memory lane with one of the OG horde modes.

Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3 caps off what was one of the best franchises on the Xbox 360. Gears of War 3 upped the ante with a four player co-op campaign, as well another iteration of horde mode.

Castle Crashers

Castle Crashers is a game that desperately needs a sequel. It’s a simple to learn but still challenging side-scrolling beat-’em-up with a striking art style and a great sense of humor. Whether you go for the original 360 version, or the remastered edition on Xbox One, you’re in for a good time if you have a few buddies to play with.

Halo 3

Halo 3 sent off Master Chief (at least for a few games anyway) in a memorable way. Bungie’s last numbered Halo game, the series classic co-op campaign is there and just as good as you remember.

Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: ODST not only added a co-op campaign that was the first to not include Master Chief, but also, introduced Firefight, a beloved co-op horde mode that was arguably more popular than the rest of the game.

Halo: Reach

Halo: Reach is the final Halo game to be developed by Bungie and it retains all the polish and fun gameplay from their previous efforts. The co-op campaign follows Noble Six as they face off against the Covenant before the events of Halo: Combat Evolved.

Mass Effect 3

When BioWare initially revealed that Mass Effect 3 was going to have multiplayer, many were horrified that it would be tacked-on nonsense. If anything though, they nailed the co-op multiplayer, and it was the finer details of the story that needed some more TLC. ME3’s co-op was and still is great.

Portal 2

Portal 2 is one of the greatest games of last-generation that took the original Portal, a surprise hit, to GOTY level. Part of its success was the excellent co-op that forced players to rethink how they approach the game’s teleporting puzzles with a friend.

Grand Theft Auto V

Grand Theft Auto V, more specifically its online mode, Grand Theft Auto Online, has its own brand of chaos separate but similar to the game’s single-player mode.

Rayman Legends

Rayman Legends is widely regarded as one of the best platformers in many years, and Legends allows up to four other players to join up with you in its colorful and wonderfully put together co-op story mode. Definitely among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Minecraft

What else is there to say about Minecraft? I’m pretty sure everyone knows what Minecraft is, and whether it’s for them or not by now. In case you’ve overlooked its potential as a fun co-op game, well… don’t. Definitely among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Dark Souls

Dark Souls, which is getting remastered soon by the way at the time of this writing, built on the very light co-op features seen in Demon’s Souls. It offered up a more thorough and easy to use co-op features that let you invite others to their doom. Definitely among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Left 4 Dead 2

Left 4 Dead 2 remains as one of the classic co-op games of last generation. While fans are still waiting for Valve to count to three, there’s nothing stopping you from continuing to enjoy the most recent iteration featuring a co-op campaign and competitive modes. Truly among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Diablo 3

Diablo 3 feels like it has been around forever, and while it has moved on to current-gen hardware, the original 360 version of the game still holds up as one of the best co-op experiences you’ll find on the console. It’s clearly among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Halo 4

Halo 4 marked the first time someone else took on a main-numbered Halo game other than Bungie. 343 Industries proved up to the task, and delivered yet another excellent split-screen co-op campaign experience that saw Master Chief go up against enemies both new and familiar. Without a doubt among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Resident Evil 5

Although the Resident Evil series has gone back and forth in terms of quality and presentation, Resident Evil 5 features a split-screen co-op campaign that is one of the series’ better efforts on the 360. No doubt it’s among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Dungeon Defenders

An Xbox Live Arcade darling, Dungeon Defenders is a compelling tower defense-RPG hybrid game that is especially fun when played with friends. If you’re a fan of horde and tower defense type games, Dungeon Defenders is as good of a choice you’ll find on the 360. Definitely one of the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Crackdown 2

While fans are still waiting to see if Microsoft will ever release Crackdown 3, Crackdown 2 is still around and just as fun as it was years ago, especially when played with a friend. Definitely among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

While Eidos and Square Enix have moved on to a new version of Lara Croft, which by the way has been great, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light was a damn good co-op game that came out after the old brand of Lara was basically dead and buried. Absolutely among the best Xbox 360 co-op games of all time.

That does it for our post about the best Xbox 360 co-op games! If you’re interested in seeing the best PS3 co-op games, check out our post about that over here. If you are interested in the best co-op games for more modern systems, too, here are our PS4, Xbox One, and Switch lists.

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Borderlands

The original Borderlands was a surprise hit that is best experienced as a co-op game to help get through what is a pretty bland story. Although the sequel improved just about everything from the first game, the classes are different between the two games, and offer up a varied experience.

Ed has been a proud member of the Twinfinite staff since 2014. He plays everything on everything but is particularly fond of JRPGs, MMOs, and sports. He holds a B.A. in history and political science and a M.S. in education all from the University at Albany.